I've been having trouble shutting down my laptop over the past few days. It doesn't seem to matter of I click turn off, shut down, sleep or hibernate...... they all immediately restart my computer (Dell laptop, approx 18 months old).

Last night and the night before, after a multitude of unsuccessful attempts, I ended up pressing the power off button to shut it off.

I have an ADSL line, and the only thing I've done differently during this past week is to replace my modern. I tried the Dell self help forums but could not find this problem there.

Any suggestions as to what might be causing this, and how I can fix it?

Also, when I restarted my laptop after powering down using the power button option, I got an error message (Windows didn't shut down properly). Will closing down this way harm my computer?

Thank you.

Possibly a bug or Trojan of some sorts??
wants it to keep running ... so it can spread the bad stuff more.. or even worse send your info out

I'd unplug off the internet as soon as possible after downloading a few extra scanners- and run a few deep scans with each one to clean out anything questionable.

moi likes the malwarebytes program - free to download & use
http://www.malwarebytes.org/

cnet.com editor picks for spyware removers -
http://download.cnet.com/windows/spy...g=ltcol;narrow

I think the non shut down is a symptom of a trojan or spyware , but her are some tips on improving shutdown times.

shut down ideas -
http://www.ehow.com/how_5002443_spee...down-time.html

found this too-
http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/19265619.aspx
and more-
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=dell+...6c7832dbb01be6

but until you figure it out don't keep it connected to the internet full time, unplug or turn off modem when not using computer online.
just to be safe..

Thank you Jo*Mar. I've read through those suggestions but I'm still no better off.

I've done a full system scan and I've done a separate spyware scan ..... both came back clear.

I've tried to shut down and restart, and still I can't turn it off. So far it's only the laptop that I've tried, as I rarely use the desktop now. That's more of a backup incase I need it.

The new modern is an ADSL (wired) one that allows me to run up to 10 computers off it. I have 2 PC's (a desktop and a laptop), and my daughter was able to connect her's as well while she was here.

I don't know if installing the new modern has caused my problems or not, because I was able to turn off normally for the first few days.

Also, can somebody please tell me if I'm doing any damage to my laptop by holding down the power button and closing down that way? I've done it several times now and I always get an error message when I switch it back on again. Thank you.

I'll ask my son.... the answer will take a few hours tho.

I know I have been warned to be careful with shut downs, as you can corrupt Windows. Try not to turn off with any files open.

I'm sending an email now...

While we are waiting.... here is one thing I found on Google:

http://www.computing.net/answers/har...ter/43478.html

Is it your new one with Vista or Wndows 7?

power button shut down info - I didn't have time to read them so not sure which to suggest..
http://www.google.com/search?q=doing...ient=firefox-a


Did you try CTRL/ALT/DEL to get the task manager open ?
maybe google anything running that you don't recognize and see if something got in there to stall /hang up the machine.
there's also a shut down tab there to unless they changed it all from XP that I use.